


They Can't Be

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-16 23:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4644201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John suspects that there is more to the relationship between Mycroft and his assistant than meets the eyes. He doesn’t ever actually expect it to be confirmed however, so it comes as a shock when it’s brought up during a birthday dinner for Sherlock and Mycroft’s father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Can't Be

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm starting to go through the much older prompts in my Tumblr inbox (I swear, I have so many messages in it it's like a black hole). This story answers a prompt from an Anonymous user who asked for the following: _The first time John discovers that Mycroft and Anthea are together! Just maybe a short fluff where they're not that PDAish but a hand here, a lingering stare there, and a peck on the nose or forehead to confirm his suspicion._ It's a bit more than that for the reveal, but I hope they like it anyway.

There was something about them that didn’t seem quite right.

It wasn’t often John was in the same space with Mycroft and Anthea. Usually it was one or the other, either the back of a black sedan with Anthea as she tapped away on her mobile or the spacious room at the Diogenes Club that Mycroft felt was best for their meetings. He didn’t mind the time spent with either of them alone, he supposed, but when they were together it gave him a chance to really study them. 

And what he realized was that there were subtle differences in how they acted with each other than there were with how they acted with others.

He immediately discounted how they interacted with Sherlock. Sherlock was enough to make anyone want to pull their hair out at times, and he imagined it was worse in the case of Mycroft and Sherlock, being brothers and all. He knew it was that way between him and Harry when they were in their moods. So instead he looked at how they interacted with his wife and with Molly to compare. While they both treated Mary and Molly cordially, perhaps even in a friendly manner, it was still a bit detached. Businesslike, in a fashion. And while he would have imagined they would have a similar relationship with each other, that did not seem to be the case.

They would exchange looks, just a beat too long. It was almost as though it was a lingering stare. There was a sort of tenderness to the gaze, more than that of old friends or dear colleagues, but rather of people who had an affectionate relationship with each other. The type of gaze between two people who were genuinely fond of each other. And sometimes, he would swear that he would see his hand brush hers, or vice versa, in a sort of loving caress. He tried to convince himself that he was just reading into things, that there was nothing more to their relationship than just fond feelings of friendship towards each other. But the more he observed the more he began to doubt that. And the more he wondered why no one else seemed to see it.

Once his daughter was born he had more things to focus on than a potential relationship between his best mate’s older brother and his assistant, and so he set it out of his mind until Sherlock’s mum invited him and Mary to dinner to help celebrate her husband’s birthday. It had been a nice dinner at the Holmes family home, all of Mr. Holmes’s favorite cooked to perfection by his wife, and they were all lounging around the table with glasses of wine just chatting about various things.

“One day I’d like grandchildren,” Mrs. Holmes said, looking at John’s daughter, who she held in her arms. “You two must feel very blessed.”

“Yes, we do,” Mary said with a smile, taking a sip of her wine. “Maybe Sherlock will wise up and mend his bachelor ways and settle down.”

“And Hell will freeze over first,” Sherlock said, looking at his mobile. “I’m not the type to want a relationship or marriage or children. Leave that to Mycroft and Andrea.”

John’s eyes widened as he watched Anthea redden at the cheek slightly and Mycroft lean over to kiss her cheek. “Don’t get into that again, Mummy,” Mycroft said.

“So you two really are in a relationship?” John asked, setting down his wine on the table.

Anthea nodded. “Going on six years now, I believe,” she said.

“Five years, ten months, three weeks and five days, to be exact,” Mycroft said.

“You would know,” Anthea said with a smile. “I suppose we should start planning something for our anniversary, then.”

“That might not be a bad idea,” Mycroft mused.

“Perhaps the two of you could go somewhere private and spend, oh, a week together and, maybe…?” Mrs. Holmes suggested with a sly grin.

Mycroft rolled his eyes. “One day, perhaps, we can be open about our relationship. Then you’ll get a proposal and a wedding and perhaps even grandchildren.”

“I just want grandchildren before I’m too old to enjoy them,” Mrs. Holmes said, looking down at John and Mary’s daughter again. “Sherlock, you might have to help me convince your brother.”

“I could always leak news of his relationship to the media,” he said thoughtfully.

“And I could make sure you get sent to Siberia for a one way trip,” Mycroft said, glaring at his brother.

“Then make Mum happy and just marry Andrea already,” Sherlock said in a huff. “Keep it quiet until she’s pregnant and then come out to the world. There isn’t much that can be done if you’re already married when she gets pregnant. Less scandal that way.”

“That isn’t how it _works_ , Sherlock,” Mycroft said with an exasperated sigh.

Anthea shook her head and then turned to John. “They do this to each other all the time,” she said with a smile. “But yes, we are in a relationship. We have to keep our relationship quiet because of protocol, and it’s a bit harder for us to arrange things for that to change. But…maybe someday.”

“Sooner rather than later, hopefully,” Mrs. Holmes said.

“Hopefully,” Anthea said with a nod. Mycroft was about to reply to Sherlock’s retort to his last comment when she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Mycroft, he’s just trying to rile you up. You know it’s not good for your blood pressure.”

“But it’s so much fun,” Sherlock said with a wicked grin.

“If you don’t stop I’ll make sure a certain woman knows there’s a certain song being written for her,” Anthea said, giving Sherlock a stern look.

Sherlock’s grin dropped off his face. “Fine,” he grumbled. He stood up. “I’m going to get some air.”

“No smoking, dear,” Mrs. Holmes called over to him as he headed out towards the garden.

“Yes, Mum,” he called back behind his shoulder.

Mrs. Holmes chuckled and then turned to John and Mary. “Just think. If you have another little babe you’ll probably have all the same problems.”

“I don’t think I would mind,” Mary said, giving John a smile.

“I might not mind either,” he said with a grin back. He turned to look back at Mycroft and Anthea and wondered at that for a moment. The evening had been very interesting, the biggest event being the confirmation of Mycroft and Anthea’s relationship, and he was sure that it was going to rank as one of the more memorable evenings of his life.


End file.
